


Holding You Up

by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)



Series: Adara Birthday Celebration [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, Ice Skating, Insecure Derek Hale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 15:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16835839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/isthatbloodonhisshirt
Summary: “This place isn’t going to last long if it doesn’t take care of its skates,” Derek said before he could help himself.“What?” Stiles blinked at him, then looked down. He laughed. “Oh, no. These are mine.”What?“What?” Derek said, repeating his thought aloud.“The skates,” Stiles clarified, motioning them, as if Derek didn’t understand.Oh, he understoodperfectly, thank you very much. Why did Stiles own skates? Why didStilesownskates?!His day was about to get worse, wasn’t it?“I used to play ice hockey when I was younger. Scott and I switched to Lacrosse in high school, but I’ve always liked skating, so I got myself some skates when I was fifteen or sixteen. They’re a little tight, but they still fit well enough. Figured there was no point in paying to rent skates when I have my own.”Derek was right. His day just got worse.





	Holding You Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [adara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adara/gifts).



> Happy Birthday [Adara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adara/pseuds/adara)!!!
> 
> Teen Wolf (c) Jeff Davis

This was a horrible idea. A terrible, awful, indescribably atrocious idea. This idea was so bad, it made all other ideas he’d ever had look good, up to and including the worst idea he’d ever had before this very moment.

Derek scowled angrily at the ice rink, still sitting in his car with his hands clenching the steering wheel. This was so stupid, he shouldn’t have come. This was such a bad idea. Why had he agreed to this?

Right, because Stiles had asked him. Stiles had asked him to come out ice skating.

Stiles had asked him out.

This was a legitimate date. This was Stiles’ idea of a good time.

Derek would’ve said no. He was prepared to say no, because ice skating was _not_ his thing. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t say no, because as soon as Stiles had blurted out that, to clarify, this was a date and not a casual outing for them to just hang out together like they usually did, Derek couldn’t find the words to decline.

Because Stiles had asked him out on a date. And Derek wanted that. He really did. After all this time, all these years, _this_ was exactly what he wanted. A date with Stiles.

Just not... well, _here_. Why couldn’t Stiles have chosen something else? Literally _anything_ else?

Derek assumed it was because this ice rink was fairly new. It was like the ‘it’ thing to do right now. And Stiles had been nervous as hell asking him to go, and Derek _wanted_ to go out with him, so it was impossible to say no.

_But still_!

“This is stupid,” he muttered to himself. A part of him was ready to turn around and leave. Just head home, pretend this whole stupid thing hadn’t happened.

But he could see the Jeep from where he was parked. He could tell that Stiles was already here. Early, even, since they weren’t due to meet up for another twenty minutes. Stiles was here, and if Derek bailed, then this was it. The end. Stiles was never going to ask him out again. Stiles would think Derek didn’t _want_ to go out with him.

But he did. He really, really did. He was bad at this whole... relationship thing. Not that they were even _in_ a relationship yet, but they sure as hell wouldn’t ever be if Derek bailed on him right now. This was like... testing the waters. The two of them trying to see if this could work. Them. Together.

Derek wanted it to work. He really did. And he knew Stiles did, too. They’d danced around each other for way too long, so really, it was about time _one_ of them made a move. That it was Stiles shouldn’t have surprised anyone, least of all Derek, but somehow it still did.

And now he was contemplating leaving. Driving away, letting Stiles sit there thinking Derek had just said yes to make fun of him.

He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t. Not to Stiles.

Gritting his teeth, Derek angrily turned off the engine and climbed out of the car, slamming the door much harder than was necessary. He scowled at the rink angrily, as if doing so hard enough would have the ice inside melt and save him the embarrassment that he was about to endure.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, he hunched his shoulders and stalked towards the door. He was a little annoyed when he neared the front and saw some people pulling their kids away from his approaching figure. What did they think he was going to do in the middle of a public setting at almost two in the afternoon?!

He tried not to let it bother him. He just walked into the rink and winced when he made it through the inner door. It was loud, and it smelled heavily of... something. He didn’t even know. He wanted to say chlorine, but it wasn’t that. Something cold and chemical.

And also feet. It really smelled like feet.

He supposed it made sense, considering all the people around who were changing out of their shoes and into ice skates. It was ridiculous, in his opinion. They had to pay to skate, _and_ they had to pay to _borrow_ skates. It was a ripoff. It was stupid.

This was stupid. Why was this even on Stiles’ radar as a place he would want to go? Stiles was the clumsiest person Derek knew!

Sure, it was a little unfair to Stiles, considering everyone Derek knew was some kind of Supernatural being, but that still wasn’t the point! The point still stood that Stiles was clumsy, so why on earth was he interested in skating around on an ice rink? He was probably going to fall over repeatedly and then whine about how much pain he was in.

It would ruin the whole night. Derek needed to talk him out of this immediately.

Pulling out his phone, he went to his contacts and tapped Stiles’ name from his favourites. He only had two people in there, so it made it easy. Ironically, both favourites were Stilinskis. One was because the sheriff was a good person to have on this era’s version of speed-dial, and the other was, well, because he _was_ a favourite.

Not that Derek would ever tell Stiles that. He didn’t need to give him any more ammo than he already had.

_“Hey Derek!”_ Stiles sounded so damn excited on the other end that it was almost painful. How was Derek supposed to talk him out of this when he was obviously looking forward to it?!

“Hey,” he muttered. “I’m here. I saw the Jeep.”

_“Oh! You’re early!”_

“Says the guy who got here before me,” Derek said. “Listen Stiles, about—”

_“What?”_ Stiles practically shouted into the phone, the noise around him increasing. Derek winced and looked around, trying to pinpoint where he might be based on the ambient noise. _“Sorry, it’s really loud right here. I’m already on the rink, I was too excited to wait. Just go by the east wing door and I’ll meet you there!”_

Stiles hung up. Derek felt his heart sink.

Stiles was already on the ice. Which meant he’d already paid, not only to go _on_ the ice, but for his skates, too. Derek couldn’t very well ask to do something else now! Not after Stiles had already paid for everything!

“Dammit,” he muttered, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He scowled on his way to the applicable door, doing his best to ignore the people giving him concerned looks. Seriously, the whole murderer thing had been years ago, and he’d been acquitted!

Finding the door, he turned when he could hear Stiles heading in his direction. Despite the setting, the steady sound of his erratic heartbeat made Derek relax a little bit. Stiles was familiar, he was comforting. Whenever Derek felt like things were too overwhelming or like he couldn’t handle something, having Stiles close made things seem less dire than they were.

It actually helped keep him calm even when they were in life or death situations. Stiles’ very presence _did things_ to him, and he was so thankful that stupid kid had wandered into the forest looking for a dead body all those years ago.

To think he could’ve gone through life never having met Stiles Stilinski. Derek couldn’t even imagine life without him now.

“Hey!” Stiles said, cheeks red and eyes bright. He was a little out of breath, with his hair dishevelled and a scarf around his neck. Derek was a little surprised to realize he was taller than him, but when he glanced down he saw that he was still wearing his skates.

It made sense. Stiles was expecting to go right back onto the ice in a minute, no point in taking them off.

They looked in bad shape, though. Derek was a little surprised, because they were all worn and flaking in some places, and really looked like they’d seen better days. The place was fairly new, were their skates falling apart already?

“This place isn’t going to last long if it doesn’t take care of its skates,” Derek said before he could help himself.

“What?” Stiles blinked at him, then looked down. He laughed. “Oh, no. These are mine.”

What?

“What?” Derek said, repeating his thought aloud.

“The skates,” Stiles clarified, motioning them, as if Derek didn’t understand.

Oh, he understood _perfectly_ , thank you very much. Why did Stiles own skates? Why did _Stiles_ own _skates_?!

His day was about to get worse, wasn’t it?

“I used to play ice hockey when I was younger. Scott and I switched to Lacrosse in high school, but I’ve always liked skating, so I got myself some skates when I was fifteen or sixteen. They’re a little tight, but they still fit well enough. Figured there was no point in paying to rent skates when I have my own.”

Derek was right. His day just got worse.

“You can skate,” he said, deadpan.

“Yup.” Stiles grinned. “I love skating. It’s really fun, just gliding around like that. I can’t like, do tricks or anything, but I’m actually really good at skating backwards, and I can’t even remember the last time I fell. I’ve been here so many times since it opened that dad’s insisting I just get a job here so I don’t have to pay all the time.”

Stiles laughed and Derek managed a small, fake-laugh himself. Stiles knew how to skate. Stiles actually knew how to skate, and had invited Derek to the ice rink because he liked skating and wanted to go skating with Derek and this was a disaster.

“Come on, skates are this way. You can buy a pass into the rink at the same teller.” Stiles grabbed his hand and started pulling him along towards one of the far walls. He was walking weirdly, given he was wearing skates instead of shoes, but the way he moved so easily even off the ice wearing blades on his feet was a little daunting.

Derek was going to make a total idiot of himself. He was going to take one step onto the ice and fall flat on his face and then never live it down _ever_. This was the worst. Stiles would laugh himself unconscious and their first real date would be ruined.

Then again, if Stiles laughed himself unconscious, maybe Derek could convince him none of this had happened and he’d hallucinated Derek falling over like an idiot.

They reached one of the areas to rent skates, standing in line while Stiles excitedly told him about his years playing hockey. Apparently he’d been really bad at the hockey part, but he’d made the team because he was an excellent skater. When he switched to Lacrosse, he ended up on the bench because he wasn’t good at Lacrosse _or_ running.

“Though I’ve done my fair share of running the past few years, am I right?” Stiles winked and nudged him, pulling his scarf a bit higher to cover his nose. His face was all flushed, probably both from excitement and the cold. Derek barely felt it, he was sweating so bad under his jacket.

He really, _really_ didn’t want to make a fool of himself. Things had been going so _well_! He and Stiles were on a _date_! Why did it have to be ruined by the stupid setting?

When Derek got to the front, he grumbled out his shoe size and the lady went to grab him a pair of skates. They were black, and looked pristine, further reinforcing the fact that Stiles was wearing his own.

He obediently held out his hand for a stamp, to prove payment when he went to enter the rink, and then held out his card to pay for the skates and the admittance. It cost just over forty dollars, and he felt even worse about everything because there was no _way_ he could talk Stiles out of going onto the rink.

The skates couldn’t be more than twenty, which meant admittance was also twenty and Stiles wasn’t made of money. He’d paid with the intention of spending the day skating with Derek.

Why couldn’t he have chosen something like paintball? Didn’t people like paintball? Stiles would be _awesome_ at paintball! Why did it have to be ice skating?!

“Come on, I have a locker over here for your shoes.” Stiles grabbed his hand once they were out of the lineup and dragged him along down the side of the rink.

Derek looked through the glass with a scowl, watching all the people laughing and enjoying a leisurely glide along the ice. Ice skating was stupid, who wanted to pay to stick blades to their feet and slide along ice.

He ignored the fact that Boyd used to work in an ice rink, mostly because that one had closed down almost the same year Boyd had joined his pack. Derek idly wondered if this was the same rink, just revamped and improved. He honestly couldn’t remember, it had been a long time since that day.

Stiles tugged on his hand and Derek forced himself to look back at him. He’d stopped beside some benches and motioned for Derek to sit. He obediently complied, scowling down at the skates before setting them beside him on the floor. Bending down, he rolled up his jeans and then unlaced his boots, pulling them off and handing them back to Stiles so he could shove them into one of the lockers.

It looked like Stiles had brought a bag with him, too, which was stuffed into the locker with his shoes. He just barely got Derek’s combat boots to fit, but they did. Shame, Derek could’ve used their price as a reason not to skate. Then again, Stiles might have just bought a second locker, and he’d be back to square one.

Scowling angrily, Derek got to work putting the skates on, shoving his feet into them. They felt weird, a little tight, and he didn’t like his chances already even off the ice and still _sitting down_. He was going to make a fool of himself in front of Stiles on their first official date and he was just _mad_ about this whole stupid situation.

He’d just pulled on the second skate, about to start lacing them up, when Stiles shifted in front of him and got to his knees, beginning to lace them up for him. His earlier cheer had dissipated somewhat, and he smelled a little sad. Derek frowned, not understanding what had happened, but he just watched Stiles slowly lace up his right skate, and then his left, hands tugging at the bow he’d made for a few seconds before he sighed and pulled the cuffs of Derek’s jeans down over the skates.

“You can pretend you don’t know me, if you want,” Stiles said quietly. It was so quiet that Derek almost missed it, but his hearing managed to catch it despite the noise around them.

“What?” He scowled. “Why would I do that?”

“Well you’re obviously not thrilled to be here with me,” Stiles muttered, getting to his feet and shoving his hands into the pockets of the hoodie he was wearing. “You didn’t have to accept if you didn’t want to, you know. If you wanted this to stay in the friendship zone. I’m used to rejection, it wasn’t going to ruin our friendship or anything.”

Derek stared at him, trying to figure out what was going on.

Stiles’ shoulders were hunched, and he was avoiding Derek’s eye, looking somewhere over his shoulder and shifting his weight.

Wait, did Stiles... did he think this was about _him_?!

“I wanted to come,” Derek blurted out, starting to get to his feet but already his balance on the skates was crap and he fell back onto the bench. “Stiles, I _wanted_ to come!”

“Then why are you acting like this entire thing is a chore?” Stiles asked a little miserably, tapping the toe of one skate against the padded ground.

It hurt Derek’s heart to see Stiles like this. Thinking he wasn’t good enough. Stiles was one of those people who was really good at putting on a front, but at the end of the day, he was self-conscious and didn’t think highly of himself. He never thought he was worth anyone’s time, and it was probably years of being rejected over and over that had drilled it into him that he was undesirable and unworthy of anyone’s time or affection.

Derek grit his teeth, because it was going to come out, anyway. The second he tried to stand up again, Stiles was going to notice, so it wasn’t like it was a secret.

“Stiles, I want to go out with you. On a date. A _real_ date. I want to do something with you, I just... I agreed to this because it was you, but I don’t like skating.”

Stiles’ eyes shot back to his face, finally looking at him again, and he frowned. “What? Why? If you didn’t like skating, you could’ve said so. We could’ve gone to do something else.”

“You’d already paid,” Derek muttered. “And when you asked me out, I was worried I’d say the wrong thing and you’d think I was rejecting you as opposed to the location of the date.”

“Derek, you should’ve told me!” Stiles rolled his eyes, head going with it, and let out a deep sigh. “It’s only twenty bucks, you should’ve said something before _you_ paid. I’ve been here for an hour, I got my money’s worth.” He shook his head and let out a small laugh. “I want you to _enjoy_ our first date, not be miserable because you hate skating.”

“I just wanted you to be happy,” Derek admitted.

“And I want _you_ to be happy.” Stiles flicked him in the forehead and Derek scowled at that. Stiles just grinned. “Come on, let’s return the skates. We can go do something else.”

When Stiles went to turn, Derek grabbed his hand, tugging him back. They’d both already paid, and the fact that Stiles was so cool about this made Derek feel guilty about not wanting to do what Stiles had obviously been planning for a while. He just... didn’t understand. It wasn’t going to be a romantic glide along the ice, it was going to be Derek falling over every two seconds like an idiot.

“I can’t skate,” Derek finally blurted out.

Stiles stared at him for a few seconds, saying nothing. After what might as well have been an eternity, he said, “What do you mean you can’t skate?”

“I don’t...” Derek struggled to find the right words. “My balance. I don’t know, the blades are too narrow? I just—I can’t balance on them. I suck at skating.”

“You can’t balance?” Stiles asked incredulously. “Dude, you’re a _Werewolf_! How can you not _balance_?!”

Derek tugged hard at his hand, giving him a look at the volume. Stiles just made a big show of looking around, because nobody was paying any attention to them. Derek knew they weren’t, but still, he didn’t exactly want his non-human status advertised for anyone to hear. If someone from out of town was around and happened to be a Hunter, he didn’t want a target on his back.

“Is that why you didn’t want to be here?” Stiles smiled a little. Not in a malicious or teasing way, more in an endearing way. “Dude, that’s adorable.”

Derek just scowled at him and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“So you can’t skate. So what? I can’t walk, we’re even.” Stiles tightened his grip on Derek’s hand in his and tugged. “Come on, we can return the skates, or you can give it a try. I don’t mind either way, but it’s actually really fun.” Stiles smirked. “I promise not to let you fall.”

“You’re hilarious.”

It took a few seconds for Derek to convince himself he could do this. It was fine. Stiles had seen him covered in blood, falling over—while embarrassing—was nothing compared to that.

Letting out a slow breath, he got to his feet somewhat unsteadily, and Stiles grabbed at him with his free hand, grinning and turning so they could make their way towards one of the four doors that led onto the rink.

Derek was already unsteady on his feet, and they hadn’t even hit the ice yet. Skates were stupid, who’d looked at a shoe and thought, “Hey, you know what would be great? Sticking a blade on that and sliding on the ice!”

Moron.

When they reached one of the doors, Stiles held up his hand and Derek begrudgingly did the same, the man letting them onto the ice. Stiles stepped onto it like he was just stepping onto pavement, but Derek knew better. He carefully put one foot down, and the second the other joined it, he lost his balance and almost fell over.

Stiles just barely managed to hold him up, bursting out laughing, which Derek didn’t appreciate. He glared at him hard enough to set him on fire, and Stiles just shook his head, still laughing.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m not laughing _at_ you, I promise. Just—this brings back memories.”

“How could this possibly bring back memories?” Derek demanded, glaring at anyone who dared come anywhere close to them. He was holding onto Stiles for dear life, and thankfully, Stiles was gripping him just as tightly, keeping them both on their feet.

“Well, holding you up makes me think of the last time I had to do that for you.”

“What?” Derek turned to him, confused, then realized what he meant. The pool, with the Kanima. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Stiles smiled. “Ah, good times. Imminent death, you having to put your life in the hands of a puny human.”

“That puny human seems pretty sturdy,” Derek muttered.

Stiles laughed and struggled to get Derek to stand up properly on his own. He still gripped at Stiles’ arms hard enough to bruise, but Stiles just grinned when he managed to stay upright and slowly began skating backwards. Derek tightened his grip, eyes widening slightly.

“Don’t just _leave me_ here!”

“I’m not.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Come on, just move your feet a little. I can skate backwards, we can just go slow. I’m not in a hurry.”

Derek slowly shifted his feet, feeling utterly humiliated at how unbalanced he was, but nobody was looking at them and even Stiles was just staring down at Derek’s feet, as if to make sure he wasn’t going to lose his footing.

After a few minutes, they actually moved together along the ice, albeit slowly. Stiles was just skating backwards, holding Derek’s arms, while the Werewolf did the same, his grip tight enough to bruise no matter how hard he tried to loosen it.

“This is going to go down in history as the worst date ever,” Derek muttered, still watching his feet.

“Why is that?” Stiles asked.

“Because this is stupid.”

“Why?” Stiles snorted. “We’re spending time together. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? I don’t care what we’re doing, I just wanted us to have a real date. Something that didn’t involve blood and danger and one of us almost dying.”

“ _I’m_ almost dying,” Derek insisted, but he smiled a little at Stiles’ rambunctious laughter.

It took a lot longer than Derek would’ve liked for him to get the hang of it, but eventually he was able to shuffle his feet along without too much trouble, and Stiles let him go. He skated beside him instead, gripping his hand so that Derek could use him for balance.

Derek almost fell a few times, but Stiles always managed to grab at him and help him find his balance again before that happened. For someone who was so clumsy, Stiles was actually a superb skater. Derek would’ve been jealous, except it was working out well for him, because he got to hang all over him.

Stiles was usually the one doing that, so it was nice to turn the tables for a change.

He kept worrying that Stiles was getting bored, having to go slowly because of him, but every time he turned to glance at him, Stiles was grinning and his eyes were bright while he spoke about what had been going on at work, or his dad’s diet, or how Scott was being particularly crabby lately. They didn’t talk about anything related to the dangerous lives they led, just regular, boring things.

Derek loved every second of it.

After about an hour out on the ice, Stiles led them cautiously to one of the doors, letting Derek get off the ice first before following. His legs felt a little shaky, mostly because he was now walking on the padded flooring with the skates as opposed to gliding along like he’d been doing.

“I’m hungry,” Stiles said with a smile. “We should grab a bite. We can do something else, if you want.”

Derek turned to look at the rink, watching a few people go by, talking and laughing. A group of girls were all falling over each other and laughing, one of them trying to help another up and falling over when someone else fell into them. They were all having a good time, even though they were on the ground, laughing and struggling to get back up.

“It’s not so bad,” he admitted, smiling a little and turning back to Stiles, tightening his hand in his. “I don’t mind going back out there after we eat, if you want.”

“Are you sure?” Stiles looked both cautious and delighted at the same time. “I just want you to have a good time.”

“Like you said, it doesn’t matter what we’re doing. As long as we’re together, and not getting mauled for once, I’m happy. Just don’t let me fall, these jeans are expensive.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, but he grinned and tugged at Derek’s hand, pulling him along towards the concession stand so they could grab some food.

While they stood in line, Derek watched Stiles peruse the board that boasted things like nachos and hot dogs, as well as warm drinks and ice cream, for some reason. Stiles looked so happy in that moment, just the two of them out together, not running for their lives or planning the next course of action for a looming attack.

Before he could think on it too much, Derek leaned over, and when Stiles turned to glance at him, he kissed him, pressing his lips lightly against Stiles’.

That had him going beet red, but he grinned so widely that it almost hurt to look at. Derek smiled back, squeezing his hand in his, and turned back to the board.

He might learn to enjoy ice skating.

Derek didn’t mind it so much, anymore. Not when he knew he would always have Stiles there to help hold him up.

Stiles was really good at keeping his head above water.

That was probably why Derek loved him so much.

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Come chill with me on [Tumblr](https://isthatbloodonhisshirt.tumblr.com/).  
> (If it still exists by the time you read this lol)


End file.
